A telephone using a connection network for processing data remotely from the telephone

ABSTRACT

A system of connection between computers. First and second computers are connected over a network. The network preferably uses an existing channel, such as a wireless connection or a telephone line. The first computer may be a PDA or a cell phone. One aspect may take speech into the telephone, send it over the network connection to the second computer, where it is recognized, and return the recognized speech to the first computer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Ser. No.60/267,635, filed Feb. 9, 2001

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Many applications, which were once thought to be nothing but sciencefiction, are now available on reasonably powerful computers. Forexample, speaker independent voice recognition can be run on a computerwhich has a sufficiently large processing capability, and in fact isbeing used by some companies for certain telephone applications. Thecomputer running the recognition often uses a database of templates tomatch incoming words to their recognized counterparts. Algorithms forrecognizing such information on a speaker independent basis haveimproved over time. However, significant computer resources are stillneeded to carry this out.

A trend in the art has been to make computers smaller and “thinner”,e.g. to reduce the computing power. This is often done in smallcomputers such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a portabletelephone or a cell phone or a miniaturized computer. In today's world,many of the high resource-intensive applications, such as speakerindependent voice recognition, cannot be effectively run on a thincomputer such as a personal digital assistant. The hardware necessarilyto do this effectively will undoubtedly get smaller and cheaper.Therefore, smaller computers may be able to do these functions in thefuture. However, by that time, more applications, with morecomputation-intensive needs, will be available.

No matter what happens, it is believed by the inventor of the presentinvention that there will always be applications that need to be run ona desktop computer that cannot be properly run on a thin client such asa PDA.

Perhaps the ultimate thin client is one which only allows sendingcommands to another more robust server, and does not itself have anycomputing power.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present application teaches a system for connecting a thin client,such as a PDA or cell phone, to a server which has additional resources,and which can carry out certain operations for processing telephoneoperations. The connection may be done over an existing channel thatexists between the client and server. The existing channel allowscommunication between the client and the server. The server may processinformation, and carry out some operation that is used and/orcommunicated to the client.

In one specific embodiment, the system connects to all telephones in anarea, and controls both the ringing of the phones and the off-hook stateof the phones. The server can therefore make decisions, based on usercriteria, about which calls should ring in the area on the clientphones, and/or be answered.

In another aspect, voice recognition on a phone or PDA is carried out,by obtaining the voice at the phone/PDA, sending digital information tothe server, recognizing the voice and sending results back to theclient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other aspects will now be described in detail with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of operation of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of operation of the second embodiment, foruse with an automated attendant at both ends;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of automatic interface with a voice promptsystem;

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment with a PDA connected wirelessly to acomputer, which controls phones on the network;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of operations in a mode to interact with avoice prompts system;

FIG. 7 shows a phone interface with a PDA; and

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment in which a PDA with a microphone is interfacevia wireless protocol with a computer which carries out voicerecognition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A block diagram of an embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. A computer 100 islocated on a network whose connection is shown generically as 110.Throughout this disclosure, the connection will be assumed to be over atelephone line using standard phone line networking protocols, i.e. ahome PNA connection. Home PNA connections use the same telephone linethat carries phone type communication, to also carry network traffic.The network information is transmitted at either 1 Mbps with the firstgeneration of home PNA or 10 megabits with the second generation. Theprotocol is backwards compatible, so that 1 megabit format informationcan be transmitted using the 10 megabit hardware. Future generations arebeing considered. While homePNA is contemplated, other network formatscan also be used. A network format is preferred which uses an existingchannel, and even more preferably, a wired channel. Home may be usefulsince this allows the computer to be connected to the phone line, whichis the same phone line that the telephones are connected to. However,wireless LAN in its various flavors also does not require a dedicatedconnection. In addition, bluetooth (TM) can be used and may be preferredwhen a PDA is the thin client. The information can also be sent over apower line network in any of its various flavors, including using X10format or any of the Power Line network protocols. In anotherembodiment, the phone can also transmit its commands and receive itsanswers via standard wired Ethernet.

This system also has advantages since it allows use of hardware whichmight be otherwise obsolete. For example, 1 Mbps home PNA hardware mightnot be preferred by computer users, since faster hardware may beavailable. However, the slower hardware may be fine for placing intelephones such as 120, and interface elements such as 135. The datarate of these devices may be relatively low and therefore the oldhardware, which may be otherwise difficult to sell, may find a new use.

The computer 100 includes a user interface 105 which allowscommunication with the computer, and also includes the home PNA hardwareshown as 106. Two different telephone handsets are also shown labeled as120 and 130.

The telephone handset 120 is a special handset which has home PNAhardware 122 built in. The home PNA hardware connects to the phone line,via connection 124 connected to phone jack 126. Again, the phone line110 serves as the network connection, and also as the phone line. Thetelephone 120 also may include some dedicated connection requests suchas 129. Element 129 requests sending a VoiceCommand, and other functionswhich are dedicated to the network connection may also have their ownbutton.

An existing phone 130 may be a telephone which does not include thebuilt in home PNA capability. This existing telephone is connected to aninterface 135. The interface 135 includes home PNA hardware 136 as wellas a dedicated VoiceCommand button 137. The interface may also include aringer circuit shown as 123 which may generate the signal, e.g. the 50 Vpeak to peak signal, necessary to operate the ringer of its associatedphone.

The interface is preferably placed in series between the existing phone130 and the telephone line 110.

The operation of this structure is described with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 2 and the other flowcharts.

FIG. 2 shows the operation for an incoming call beginning at 200. Theincoming call is signaled by a signal on the telephone line 110 which isconnected to the computer. The computer detects the incoming call at205. Note that the telephones in this system are each controlled by thenetwork hardware. A telephone is only allowed to ring if it receives asignal from the computer telling it to ring. Otherwise, the telephonesdo not ring when an incoming ring tone is received on the phone line.The existing phones, which do not have this capability, are controlledby the interface. Hence, unlike a conventional phone which rings anytime it receives a signal, these phones are controlled to only ring whenthey are commanded to ring over the home PNA connection; and do not ringbased directly on the ring caused by an incoming call.

The caller ID on the incoming call is tested at 210. The computer storesa list of approved caller IDs, and compares the incoming caller IDagainst that list. If the caller ID is on the list, or otherwise notedas approved, the telephones are commanded to ring at 215. Each phone maybe individually addressed. Therefore, certain phones are commanded toring. If the caller ID is from a friend of person A in the family, thenonly person A″s phone might ring. Alternatively, all phones may becaused to ring for all caller ID's so that anyone in the house cananswer. The phones can include multiple ring tones, one for each user inthe house, so that all users may be able to determine the probablecaller from the ring tone. All phones may ring, or just some phones withthe unique ring tone.

A list of caller Ids can be manually entered, or iteratively entered. Aniterative entry might use a dedicated button on the phone, labeled “addto accepted Callers”, or the like.

The computer 100 may also store the user″s personal information manager,including a contact list. The list includes names and phone numbers, andeach name may be annotated with an indication of whether calls from thatperson should be accepted or not. Alternatively, only calls from peopleon the list might be accepted if there is no indication of whether toaccept calls from specific people.

The database of personal information that is stored can be asynchronization of information from a PDA, such as a Palm™ computer, forinstance.

Manual entry requires starting the program, and adding the caller ID toa list.

The Caller Ids can also be learned, for example using a rules databaseindicating that when users answer the phone in a certain way, that thecaller ID should be accepted, otherwise not. Again, since the caller IDis processed in the computer 100, can be handled with a fair amount ofprocessing power.

If the call is not an approved caller ID, or caller ID is blocked, or ifan option in the program is appropriately set, then an automatedattendant will automatically answer the phone. The automated attendantis resident in software running on the computer 100. The attendant usesvoice synthesis technology to synthesize its voice, and uses speakerindependent voice recognition technology to analyze the results.

At 220, the attendant answers with a voice. The attendant then monitorsthe line for incoming information. An override code can also be enteredat this point. The override code may be known to family members orfriends, and can be used when they are either calling from an unfamiliarphone (e.g. a pay phone), or from a caller ID blocked phone. Theoverride code can be, for example, a 4 digit code entered via DTMF. Thisautomatically bypasses the rest of the process and causes phones toring.

Other than the override code, the incoming information will typicallyreduce to a relatively small set of responses. For example, the incominginformation may say “hello, is Bob there?” or other similar introductoryresponses. However, the attendant does not need to be able to recognizethe entire spectrum of English language. The attendant then answers at230 with a “Who may I say is calling?”, and waits for a response. Thename is recorded at 235 and the system attempts to recognize it.

The user″s personal information may be stored in the computer 100, sothe computer can use its limited vocabulary, and the names stored in thecomputer. With names not on the list, the system might just do the bestit can to recognize the name. Note that all of this is being carried outon the computer 100. At this point, the telephones have not yet rung.

At this point, the computer sends a signal over the network connectionto Bob's phone 120. Alternatively, depending on settings, the system mayring all the phones over the network. Bob or someone else picks up thephone at 245. The computer, not the act of picking up the phone,controls the off hook condition of the phone via the network connection.When Bob picks up the phone, a network connection is established betweenBob at 120 and the computer 100 over the phone line. The phone does notgo off hook, but rather information is sent across the phone line 110 tothe network circuit 122 and to the handset 121 of the phone 120.Alternatively, a display on the phone can display the same information.The information is provided to Bob about who is calling. Bob listens orsees the display at 250, and decides to either accept or reject thecaller.

Bob can either accept or reject the call using buttons on the phone, orusing voice commands.

If Bob accepts the caller at 255, then the computer commands the phoneto go off hook at 260, immediately connecting Bob to the caller. Thephone is then connected directly to the telco 128. The caller id can beprocessed according to the rules in the rules database, e.g., added toacceptable caller Ids, or only added to acceptable caller Ids if thecall lasts more than 5 minutes.

If a reject signal is sent at 265, then the off hook signal is neverplaced, and the attendant takes a message at 270.

This system can also be used to place a call. At 300, the user requestsa call to be placed. The user can press, for example, the “voicecommand” button 129. The words “call Jane” are sent from the handset121, via the network circuit 122 over the phone line 110 to thecomputer. They may be sent as a “.wav” file for example.

The computer receives the Voice Command and automatically recognizes it.A limited set of commands may be defined. For it example, one commandmay include “call”. This command set may call the person whose namecomes after the command.

When the computer receives a command of “call Jane Smith”, it parses thewords into a command to call a person named Jane Smith. More options canalso be provided, e.g., “mobile”, “home”, etc.

The computer automatically searches through the personal contact list tolook for a match to the person named Jane Smith. If such a match isfound, and there is no ambiguity, then the call is automatically placedvia the network at 305. The call may be placed by sending a call commandvia network over the phone line 110 to the commanding phone, with thephone number to be dialed and a command to go off hook before dialing.Alternatively, if there is ambiguity, then the computer voicesynthesizes a response. The response may say for example “should I callJane at her home, office or mobile number?” The response is againmonitored, narrowing again the options.

Once the call is placed, the user can be immediately connected to thecall, or the attendant can act as a secretary at 310, to see if the callis answered, thereafter attempting to find the right person. Forexample, if Bob works at a location where either an automated attendantis necessary, or it is necessary to enter an extension, or callingsomewhere to see if Bob is there, then the attendant can do the work,finding Bob and getting him on the line before the caller actually picksup.

Another operation of this system may be in an autodialer. Many personalinformation organizers such as outlook include the ability toautomatically dial a selected number. For example, a user can select anumber, and the computer dialer can automatically dial it. This limits,however, the use to phones which are connected directly to the computer.This embodiment is shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, any phone canbecome the dialing phone. In operation, the user selects auto dial fromthe personal information manager 500. At the time that auto dial 505 isselected, the personal information manager scans the network viaconnection 510, which may be a wireless connection, e.g. Bluetooth tocomputer 520 having a Bluetooth module 522. All the phones which are onthe network answer the poll, and the system provides a display, whichmay be an icon form, of all the phones which are currently on thenetwork. This is shown as 506 on the PDA 500. The user then selects oneof these phones for dialing.

The computer then sends a command to that phone, requesting it to ring,or otherwise provide a display. For example, the phone may provide ashort beep tone every 15 seconds. The user then picks up the phone orotherwise signifies that they have the phone. Again, picking up thephone may not automatically cause an off hook of the phone. The phonedialer then dials the number, and then commands the phone off hook sothat the user is connected to their desired connection. Alternatively,the attendant can carry out some of the operations described above priorto ringing the phone so that the connection may already be establishedby the time the user picks up the phone.

The above has described using phoneline networking. However, otherprotocols could be used. It is specifically preferred that the protocolbe one which uses an existing channel for its communication, as is doneby phoneline networking. However, wireless Lan, Bluetooth, power linenetworking, and X10 can also be used in this way, just to name a few.The wireless protocols can specifically be used with portabletelephones, such as cell phones and the like.

Another embodiment, shown in FIG. 8, uses the network connection toallow a PDA to carry out voice recognition even in view of its limitedresources. The PDA 100 is shown with a built-in microphone 805, and adigital recorder or connector 810. Such PDAs are already available, forexample the Compaq Ipaq™ PDA has this capability. In this embodiment, aBluetooth module 815 (or other network module) is connected to the PDA,and receives its digital output form of the recorded voice. TheBluetooth module sends the digital version of the voice over thewireless channel 820 to a Bluetooth module 825 in the computer 830. Thecomputer 830 runs voice recognition software 835, which can be softwarethat has been trained by the user. The voice recognition software 835can be, for example, Dragon Naturally Speaking (TM). As the voice isrecognized by the recognition software 835, it produces a document shownas 840. This document is stored on the computer, and is also convertedinto a form for storage and display on the PDA. Specialized documentforms are often used to display information on the PDA. The documentinformation is sent back to the Bluetooth module 825, and sent over theBluetooth line 845 which is the same channel as 820, to the Bluetoothmodule 815 in the PDA 800. The document is therefore displayed on thePDA. Therefore, the document is displayed in semi real time. The onlyextra delays for are those attributable to the digitization andBluetooth communication, which may be minimal.

Another embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is directed specifically to aspecialized kind of attendant. Sometimes, when one calls a large companysuch as a credit card company, an attendant answers the phone and oftenrequests various personal information prior to providing its response.There are basically two embodiments of this system. A first embodimentis more of a retrofit embodiment, using existing hardware, and notrequiring substantial change to the hardware or the way these systemswork. A second embodiment, described with reference to FIG. 6, requiressome retrofit to operate properly. However, once this system isretrofit, the operation can occur more quickly, thus minimizing theamount of time the user stays on the phone, and eventually reducing thephone bills to the company, which often pays per minute for the accessvia a toll free number.

Many companies use their automated attendant in order to try to provideas much information to the user as possible without requiring an actualperson to speak. Many times a user is calling for something that willrequire only an automated attendant.

A first embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. At 400, the system has called anautomated phone system, such as the kind that is maintained by a creditcard or other large processor of information. The computer stores apersonal information manager. This has the user's personal informationincluding the person's name, zip code, and account number andinformation which is often requested, like mother″s maiden name. Thepersonal information manager presumably stores all of the conceivableinformation that the auto phone could possibly want to get. At 410, thecall is placed, and the auto phone responds by requesting informationfrom the user. A common initial request might be “please enter youraccount number”. The personal information manager at 405 presumably hasthis information.

At 420, this system voice recognizes the query from the auto phone,using speaker-independent voice recognition. This can be done by sendingthe information to a main computer using the techniques described inFIGS. 1-3 and 8. After obtaining the desired information, the systemreplies at 425, by entering touchtone digits indicative of the looked-upinformation. 430 represents the situation where the system does not knowthe information being asked for, or cannot recognize the voice. In thiscase, if the user is close by, the system can ask the user at 435 inreal-time and still provide a response. Otherwise, if the user has askedfor this to be done off-line, then the query is recorded at 440. Therecorded query at 440 will later be played to the user who can providethis information. After the reply at 425, 445 determines that the userhas obtained the desired information that they want. If so, the call isended at 450. If not, the loop may continue. For example, if the user iscalling to get a credit card or bank balance, then the balance may bedisplayed to the user. If the user has specific questions about atransaction or about anything else, this can all be accommodated withmost of the operations occurring automatically.

A retrofit environment is shown in FIG. 6. This can also be carried outusing a personal digital assistant as the computer as shown in FIG. 7.The phone handset may be coupled with the personal digital assistant,either using acoustic coupling as shown in FIG. 7, or simply by pluggingin the modular jack. Alternatively, this intelligence can be builtdirectly into the telephone, or can be carried out in a remoteprocessing computer using the techniques described above. In operation,at 600, the computer detects a call that is requesting specificinformation. The call may be saying, for example, “welcome to your bank.This bank is system is compliant with the X. X. X. special system.Please enter the special code or your account number to proceed”. At605, the computer responds by entering a special code EG ##. Responsiveto entering the special code, a series of handshaking requests occur,using DTMF communication or modem communication. The computerintelligence learns a sequence of requests and the kind of informationwhich will be required. At 615, this system returns all of theinformation which it knows, i.e. that information which is stored in thepersonal information manager. The unknown information may be obtainedfrom the user, either off-line or in real-time.

In either of the embodiment of FIGS. 4 or 6, the user may want somethingspecial, for example to talk to a representative about some issue. Theuser can enter that as a comment. In the FIG. 4 embodiment, the systemmay request the attendant as soon as the option becomes available. Ifthe system says “an operator will be with you in five minutes”, then thesystem times that amount of time before asking the user to get on theline. In the FIG. 6 embodiment, the reason why the user wants to talk toan attendant can be communicated to the system at the other end in somecomment form.

As described above, even though this system describes used with onlycertain network protocols, it can be used with other network protocols.Any protocol that does not require a separate connection to be made ispreferred. Wired ethernet will require a special ethernet connection,and therefore may be less preferred in this system. However, wirelessLAN may still allow a chip to be placed in the telephone which cancommunicate with the computer.

Moreover, while the above has described the server for this system asbeing a home computer, it should be understood that this server could beany other kind of client, including another phone which includesprocessing capability for example. One of the phones would then act asthe client, which answers all calls and determines how to handle thosecalls as described above. The remaining phones connect to the serverphone over the network.

Also, that network is preferably a network that uses existing wiring,such as a phone line network, or a power line network. However, thenetwork can also be of other types, including Ethernet and/or wirelessnetworks.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A method, comprising: detecting an incomingtelephone call; detecting a name that is spoken by a caller andautomatically recognizing the name; preventing a plurality of telephonesfrom ringing if said recognized name is not on a predetermined list,otherwise allowing said plurality of telephones to ring; and whereinsaid preventing comprises allowing some, but not all, of said telephonesto ring, and preventing others of said telephones from ringing. 12.(canceled)
 13. A system, comprising: a first electronically operateddevice, receiving a voice to be recognized; and said firstelectronically operated device including a connection to a network thatextends between said first electronically operated device and a secondcomputer, wherein said first -electronically operated device operates toreceive said voice to be recognized, and to send information indicativeof said voice to be recognized over said network, and receive a documentthat includes text that represents a result of recognizing said voice tobe recognized, and where said text in said document represents only saidvoice having been recognized by the second computer and does not includeresults of recognizing any other voice.
 14. A system as in claim 13,wherein said first electronically operated device is included within aportable telephone.
 15. A system as in claim 13, wherein said firstelectronically operated device is included within a personal digitalassistant.
 16. (canceled)
 17. A system as in claim 13, wherein said textis displayed on said first computer and includes text indicative ofspecific words that represent said spoken voice.
 18. A system as inclaim 13, wherein said network connection is a connection over anexisting telephone line.
 19. A system, comprising: a first electronicdevice, having a microphone, and capable of communicating sound receivedby said microphone; a computer, remote from said first electronicdevice; said first electronic device and said computer having connectioncapability parts that allow forming a connection between said firstelectronic device and said computer, said connection using a protocolwhich does not require a dedicated wire connection between said firstelectronic device and said computer, said connection operative to allowdata received from said microphone to be sent from said first electronicdevice to said computer for processing said data, to produce voicerecognized text that is based on only on said data and not on any voicesother than those included in said data, and to return said voicerecognized text from said computer to said first electronic device,wherein said data is spoken voice requests, said computer recognizessaid spoken voice and returns said voice recognized text in a documentthat represents only said spoken voice to said first electronic device.20. A system as in claim 19, wherein said connection capability partsinclude parts that allow making a bluetooth connection to send saidspoken voice and said recognition information.
 21. A system as in claim19, wherein said connection capability parts include parts that allowmaking a wireless networking connection.
 22. A system as in claim 19wherein said computer includes a telephone associated therewith.
 23. Asystem as in claim 22, further comprising a plurality of saidtelephones, and said computer commands only certain ones of saidtelephones to be commanded to communicate, based on applied information.24. A telephone system, comprising: a computer, having a connectioncapability part that allow forming a connection to a remote part, saidconnection using a protocol which does not require a dedicated wireconnection, said connection operative to allow voice data to bereceived, to recognize said voice data to produce voice recognitioninformation that is based on said voice data, where said voice dataincludes only a single voice, and said voice recognition data is basedonly on said single voice and to return processed information to theremote part, said processed information including document informationthat is representative of said voice recognition information, and in aform that allows said voice recognition information to be displayed aswords that represent said voice data, on said remote part.
 25. Atelephone system as in claim 24, wherein said connection capability partis a Bluetooth part.
 26. A system as in claim 19, wherein said documentis displayed on a display associated with said first electronic device,and said display includes recognized words representing said spokenvoice.
 27. A system as in claim 13, further comprising a secondcomputer, remote from said electronically operated device, said secondcomputer connected to said network, and including automatic voicerecognition capability.
 28. A system as in claim 13, further comprisinga digitizing part within said first electronically operated device,which digitizes said voice to be recognized prior to sending it oversaid network.
 29. A system as in claim 19, wherein said first electronicdevice includes a digitizer, which digitizes said sound received by saidmicrophone prior to sending it to said computer.
 30. A system as inclaim 24, wherein said computer receives said voice data in a digitizedform.